Honeywell has announced that it will outfit five of EuroChem’s ammonia production units with Honeywell Process Solutions’ UniSim Operator Training Simulation (OTS) solution at its Nevinnomysskiy Azot and Novomoskovskiy Azot facilities in Russia.

EuroChem – Russia's largest mineral fertilizer producer – will use UniSim to create simulated process scenarios as part of its training programme for plant operators. UniSim was chosen since it allows process operators to familiarize themselves with the operation of plant equipment before entering the actual plant control room, thus greatly reducing the risk of industrial accidents caused by operator error.

EuroChem will be able to train operators in a wide variety of simulated plant scenarios, allowing them to gain valuable experience in a controlled environment. HPS’ UniSim software solution also offers a pre-training preparation system, which is a suite of products that can be used to study cause-and-effect relationships in the process facility, analyze symptoms, diagnose causes of faults and examine emergency isolation and response actions.

“A common problem in our industry today is the shortage of skilled personnel, and thanks to the UniSim software we can now train both new and experienced operators in a safe environment, which helps them maintain their skills at a very high level,” said German Tsvetinsky, Head of Technological Development, EuroChem. “UniSim also allows us to integrate technical systems from multiple vendors into one universal training programme, which is very important for us.”

“The implementation of UniSim will help Eurochem to optimize safety, reliability and efficiency at both of its facilities by training operators to the highest level possible,” said Nikolay Shestakov, Russia site leader, Honeywell Process Solutions. “This agreement with EuroChem demonstrates the growing recognition of the value that modern training simulators can bring to important sectors of Russian industry, such as fertilizer production.”